The Manuscript
by ThePhantomsSoprano
Summary: Young ancestor of Christine & Raoul De Chagny, is hired to work at the opera house. With a superficial likeness to Christine the only thing she has in common with her is her name and her singing voice. The young woman comes face to face with the infamous phantom. (note: This story is as yet unfinished and i have tried to make sure that spelling mistakes are few)


(This is unfinished but is sharing what I ve written so far. I will be completed eventually)

The Manuscript

The Opera Populaire was not as it once was. These days it was a run down theater that saw little to no action at all. Opera's were no longer performed there, Orchestras no longer played there. Ballet was about the only thing that it was still used for though not much if truth be told. There were many secrets to this place, many hidden things kept hidden and locked away in its archives and vaults. It was said that there lay locked in a hidden special room the remains of a skeleton, a violin and many manuscripts of music except the most famous one which had never been found...

The skeleton was said to be that of the infamous ghost of so many years ago the PHANTOM OF THE OPERA but in this modern world none believed it except the family that held office.. That family was Giry. It was said that the Girys had always been a part of this opera house from the famous ballet mistress madam Giry right up to modern day descendants. No one had ever found Don Juan Triumphant, the musical manuscript that told the Phantom s life story. Some say that to play it would bring the phantom himself back to life and into the waking world again...

Though the Giry descendants knew how to traverse the labyrinth that would take them to the infamous lair none of them had yet been able to locate the famous opera. Like the theater they tended to the lair keeping it tidy and clean, and a fire always lit to keep out the damp and chillness of the lakeside. The candelabra though holding candles was never lit and the rats that roamed the corridors were kept at bay. The Phantom's famous traps also were kept in good working order, as if waiting for its master to return. The lake itself was said to be alive calling those with a deep longing for something to its shores hence the famous siren reference though none had been able to prove or disprove this particular legendary rumor. The theater was currently advertising for someone to help with the office work of the place. Typing, filing, answering phones and other mundane tasks. In other word s the general upkeeping of things that the current Giry didn't have time to do herself. Countless applications for the position had been sent in, reviewed and turned down and the current Giry was becoming morose and discontent that an appropriate applicant could not be hired for the position - that was until one applicant's name caught her eye.

Christine Daa DeChagny.

Instantly and acceptance form was drawn up and sent to the young female telling her that she was hired and should begin work the start of the following following week Christine reported for her first day of work at the opera Populaire and was promptly shown the small office in which she would be working in. She was also provided with a detailed map of the building so that she would not make the mistake of getting lost inside the building. A small internal phone was also provided for this but once she was there and given her current duties for the day ahead, she realized that she felt instantly at home, as if she had always known the building and everything about it. Yet at the same time she felt that this could not be possible. Of course she knew the legend of the infamous opera ghost as she had read her families detailed diaries of the era and of her ancestor Le Comte Raoul De Chagnys wife and former opera diva that she had been named after at was something of her past that she kept hidden from those she was acquainted with but since the woman who had hired her was of the family Giry she knew that this woman knew her own family s history. She suspected that it had been a part of the reason that she had been hired in the first place.

Day One Monday... (written in the hand of Christine Daa De Chagny)

My first day at work and already i feel very much at home, it's as if I have always known this place and yet I know that this is not the case as this is my first visit here as well as my very first day of work. I was assigned to the archive section to put into order and file away the countless reams of paperwork that is in need of some form or alphabetical order. Since I am relatively alone I listen to music and sing along with the songs as softly and as quietly as i can. Room and board has been offered to me so that there is never any need to travel to and from my place of work and my family home Chateaux De Chagny. God how I hate that house and immediately accepted the most generous offer and have moved my things into the dormitories. But I would not be there for long when Giry learned this was where I had been placed she gave ordered for me to move into one of the dressing rooms. It would be later, much later that I would find out that it was the original dressing room of my ancestress, Christine Daa , the love interest to Le Fantome Del opera. For now my musings will have to wait for work calls me into action. Christine put her journal that housed her thoughts and musings away and set to work. The day passed for her uneventful as much as the interruptions that could be heard throughout the building could be called uneventful. As the day eventually came to an end she closed up and went to her new found home and settled in.

The Phantom's Lair

Beneath the opera house things begun to stir into life. The candelabra of their own accord lit themselves alight blazing brightly. The still waters of the lake once silent now rippled silently as a small black gondola boat now stood tethered in the dock landing which had once stood empty. And in the darkness just beyond this a Ghostly silhouette begun to take shape. Indistinct as yet but if one looked hard enough the outline of a Mask upon said indistinct features could be seen. The ghostly form looked around himself with a frown. He knew he was once more within his domain but this time as a real live phantom ghost and not the living breathing man he'd once been so long ago. Erik. For this was his name, knew that something or someone had called him back to this place he'd once ruled and still retaining all knowledge from when he once lived in the world needed to find out the how and the why. The Phantoms soul, spirit solidified into that of a man s corporal form though this was but an illusion and walked softly towards his craft. Stepping aboard, the gondola untethered itself and sailed silently across the waters to the other side and upon reaching its destination retethered itself. The phantom stepped from the craft and raised eyes upwards.

'Who has woken me from my sleep of death? Why am I once more in residence of my mortal home?'

These where but two question's which crossed his ghostly thoughts for it had not gone unnoticed that his home was still in pristine condition as if he had stepped out for but the merest of moments. Someone still maintained it long after he'd left the world to sleep the sleep of the dead. Erik wondered where the remains of what had once been his living body was. He knew the remains were still nearby, just not where they should have been. Buried in an unmarked grave near his home across the lake. Erik was not happy that he was no longer at peace in death and turning to the ancient familiar path his silent tread took his ghostly form upwards and into the opera house. Once more roaming its corridors now in death as he had once in wandered through the corridors of the opera house from the cellar all the way through each level and floor until he finally stopped at box 5. His box. Without having to do a thing the door opened of its own accord and he slipped inside and settled into his usual seat uncaring of the door closing behind him as silently as it had opened. Erik's genius allowed him the privilege of complete understanding of the situation he now found himself in. Something momentous was happening in his opera house and he was a part of it no matter the current state of his being. Erik sighed without sound wishing he had his violin at his side but it was resting where it had been left upon his death upon it's dais of black silk cloth inside its casing untouched these countless years. The current manager madam Giry sensed the change in the air of the opera house from where she sat inside her own rooms and knew instinctively that he had returned in some way. Dressed in her customary casual black dress she walked to her door, reached for the handle, turned it and stepped out and closed it behind her. Walking through the corridor she made her way to the main auditorium and stepped out onto the silent dark staging area. Her employee on the other hand, Christine Daa DeChagny slept fitfully within her quarters. Dreams invaded her sleeping mind. Dreams of a masked phantom, singing lessons, screaming ballet rats and other indistinct things that would be lost to her conscious mind when she woke the next morning.

'Monsieur Le' Fantom? I know you are here one more to roam the opera house as you once did ages past. And for that you have my most profound apologies that your spirit no longer rests in the peace and freedom you once sought in life.'

Giry spoke out into the darkness her eyes downcast though her demeanor showed her turned facing the phantom's box. Erik stared down at the woman that reminded him of thing of so long ago.

'Madame what momentous thing is in progress in this modern world of yours that would call my very soul back from the grave to wander my opera house? Where are my human remains which should have been within my unmarked grave but are not!'

Came his soft melodic tone from the darkness. Startled to hear the voice she'd be told of as a young girl caused her to raise startled eyes upwards and look towards the grand tier where he sat in darkness unseen within his box. Her voice froze in her lungs and she had to take a few deep breaths to calm herself before responding.

'Monsieur? Long past skeletal remains were found within the catacombs and places within Le'Opera National. I do not know if said remains are yours but they are kept under strict lock and key. No one including employees are allowed access to them. '

she replied in response to his first question, as to the second her reply was as such.

'Momentous event sir! Of such I have no idea the only current event over the last few days was the hiring of a young woman. Though I do not think this to be momentous?'

She stated with a frown.

'Her name? this woman what might it be?'

Came his inquiry. The madame suddenly realized something and knew that if she did as asked there was no telling what the opera ghost would do. The phantom stood up from his seat in response to her silence and snapped the question at her a second time. This time he stepped from the shadows and into full view. Her eyes widened in surprise to see the actual figure standing there wavering between indistinct and full corporality.

'Christine Daa De Chagny'

she said it so softly that he almost didn't hear it but with his keen hearing he heard it loud and clear and vanished from view appearing moments later on the shores of his lake her name on his lips.

'Christine!'

The madame stood upon the stage now alone and afraid of what the future now held. By the early hours of the morning while everyone was still asleep Erik had found everything that he needed. He knew the exact location of his remains which he returned to their rightful place along with his magnum opus. His Don Juan Triumphant manuscript that detailed his entire life from birth to death. Now that he was once more roaming his theater this time round as an actual phantom his mind echoed with music as it always did and he begun once more to transcribe what came to him directly to his manuscript. Now all he needed was to make actual contact with this living version of Christine. As the days past and routine set in things were silent and Madam Giry heard no more from the ghostly phantom that roamed around the theater. She'd catch a glimpse on occasion but for the most part there was silence and things ran smoothly but how long this would last remained to be seen. Chritine meanwhile when she had a break from her tasks tended to check into her social media account upon facebook which was also connected to her instagram profile. On one such occasion she came to find a request from a young woman named meg who actually lived in the same city she now found herself in. Reading through the page she found that the young woman was a former dancer that had had to retire due to injury and who now turned to teaching the basics of dancing which she could still do and used her creative hobby of making costumes as her primary job. Christine accepted the request and instantly communication between them took off and they became good on the other hand if he was not wandering around his theater he was learning all about the world since the time of his demise by studying everything in the theaters library right up to the present day from industry to world wars that had come and gone to present ones that were on going all over the world to social media and the current technology that existed and where some would find it awe inspiring and wondrous Erik had only a concept of curiosity and hunger for more and more of the modern world. At present Erik was sitting at his writing desk writing in his journal.

(Erik s Journal Entry)

'In these last few days since i found myself back in the waking world though not of a corporal being i have studied it and found some of this modern world not to my liking while others remain the same as ever. My theater is but one aspect that remains the same and yet it is different. it is no longer what it once was. No shows being cast or patrons attending it. It is a shell of its former glory and yet i find that i like the change that has taken place. There are no nosy people trying to find me, and all my past deeds no longer matter. Though i must admit it saddens me greatly that all those i once knew while alive are long since gone from this new waking world, even my enemy changy is long gone and though this pleases me greatly it also saddens me. There are none alive left to remember the man i was save for their descendants. My story told in books , films and a musical though none truly tell the story of my life. I am but a ghostly legend in this modern world of man.'

(end of journal entry)

Erik placed his pen down and settled back into his seat to ponder how best to write about his thoughts on the young women who were the only remaining descendants of those he once knew so well and loved While above pandemonium about the disappearance of certain remains was going on and how best to keep it from being in the public eye.


End file.
